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Today’s marketplaces are more competitive than ever before - with and without all the crises we’re currently witnessing. But what is it that makes the difference between the businesses that do thrive and the ones that don’t? McKINSEY DESIGN STUDY The international consulting firm McKinsey took a deep look into this question and conducted a study among 300 publicly listed companies over a period of five years. According to McKinsey, it is „the most extensive and rigorous research undertaken anywhere to study the design actions that leaders can make to unlock business value“. And even though the study is dated October 25th, 2018, the outcome is just as relevant and accurate as today. "The companies in the top quartile of the McKinsey Design Index financially outperformed their peers in terms of revenue (+ 32 % higher revenue over 5 years) and shareholder return (+ 56 % higher). That's an extraordinary number in a short period of time.“ Benedict Sheppard | Partner in the London office, McKinsey Design Successful companies know how to differentiate themselves from their competitors by implementing good design in all aspects of their business: product design, service design, webdesign , brand design etc. A cross-functional branding approach is crucial and the only way to successfully master the huge challenge of offering a holistic brand experience for customers on every single touchpoint - may it be online or offline. As we know from many years of experience, a corporate design manual is an ideal way to achieve that. “Design is more than a feeling: it is a CEO-level priority for growth and long-term performance.” For more in-depth information, you can download the business value of design study on McKinsey’s website.

In this blog article, we proudly showcase a professional website template we created for the Business Design Boutique on Editor X: a 100% responsive web experience including mobile website, presenting inspiring interior design solutions combined with timeless elegance. Since the launch of Editor X a few years ago, we’ve been super-thrilled and excited about getting into this advanced website platform . Thanks to Editor X’s innovative flexbox technology we could perfectly adjust every design detail of this website design on every breakpoint for different devices. No matter the screen size - providing information in bite-sized portions makes this website very user-friendly. Take a look at this professional website template and enjoy the feeling of prime interior designs. Beautiful images are key to making a website look amazing and making your website visitors stay for longer. In addition to that, this beautiful website design features an innovative image revealing effect with salmon-pink coloured backgrounds, that we built from scratch in Editor X. For this professional website template we used a set of elegant serif fonts for headers, the main copy and buttons. A serif font comes with tiny extensions at the top and bottom of letters as if they were sitting on an invisible line. Serif fonts transport a feeling of rootedness, traditional values, calmness and stability. Simply perfect for interior designs what this website is all about. Naturally Urban - this is the idea behind one of the interior design projects on this professional website design. Living in a city does not necessarily mean a lack of plants. We find the minimalistic style of the main image in contrast with the opulent bathroom image very inspiring. How about getting some plants for your bathroom? We like that idea very much. What’s nicer than a beautiful hammock chair? Even more beautiful text boxes in your corporate colours responsively surrounding it. They are floating up and down as you scroll up and down on this website design. As you can see in the mobile phone version, the mobile layout looks slightly different and seamlessly adapts to any screen size. Some people still underestimate the power of white space . Used smartly, white space is a great design tool to put the website visitor’s focus on where it matters most. For this professional website template we used white space to transport a feeling of window-shopping luxury and to put the focus on the CTA (call to action) button to discover more. We make sure all our website designs work smoothly on desktop, tablet and phone. For better usability, we implemented a vertical side bar menu to create a more elegant look and feel to go nicely with the overall feel of premium interior design solutions. Speaking of responsiveness and mobile devices: Have you ever been on a mobile website on your phone trying to fill out a form? Yes, contact forms on a mobile website are a big pain point. This is why we make sure contact forms on every mobile website are big enough so your visitors can navigate, read and type with ease. This results in more contact form submissions. If you'd like to make this website yours, simply head over to the shop in the Business Design Boutique and purchase your favourite design.

Artificial intelligence ("AI" for short) is a technology that has become increasingly important in recent years and is currently the subject of heated debate. AI offers incredible opportunities for developers, designers, copywriters and any other kind of creative activity - but also incredible pitfalls and dangers - even for the peaceful coexistence of humanity. WHAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ITSELF SAYS ABOUT THIS Creative production processes can be simplified with AI. In addition, artificial intelligence is able to use methods that go far beyond what conventional software can do. Through the use of machine learning and neural networks, it is possible to generate unique designs and texts and make them accessible to the end user. AI designers not only help create designs, but can also help streamline a project. Using their algorithms, AI designers can analyze and automatically monitor visual elements. If parts of the design need to be changed to achieve better visual results or to improve the user interface (UI) or user experience (UX), AI designers can refer to relevant data sets to make relevant changes. AI also offers promising potential in other areas of design: by searching for specific patterns or identifying new trends. AI is being used more and more because of its ability to efficiently evaluate existing data sets and provide immediate insights for decision makers. In addition, modern AI/ML tools incorporate functional techniques such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Deep Learning (DL), thanks to which designers can create interfaces that offer a smoother dialogue with their users. AI-based design systems have proven to be robust enough to allow for customisation; for example, it will be possible to provide customised interfaces taking into account different contextual factors - such as the user's age or gender - as well as automatically taking into account certain colour or font preferences - without the designer having to develop each variation manually. AI-based designers not only help people to create more efficient designs with more flexibility and customisation - they also revolutionise the way the design process is executed: In the future, artificial intelligence will make it possible to create different UI/UX scenarios in minutes instead of days. The paragraphs stated above were pre-generated by artificial intelligence. However, the text had to be adapted manually in order to correct grammatical errors, increase the meaningfulness, correct false statements and make it easier to read. In this way, humankind helps the machine. WHAT A HUMAN BEING SAYS ABOUT THIS The advantage of artificial intelligence is obvious: Maximum increase in productivity and (as a result) cost savings. Cost savings on the one hand means layoffs and higher unemployment in various industries on the other hand (the qualitative output is another issue, too). In a design context, however, artificial intelligence also means more comparable mass-produced "goods". One thing is becoming very clear: the need for design excellence, uniqueness and recognizability increases enormously through the use of AI. AI does generate new things, but based on existing images and existing design styles from the Internet. In addition, the spirit of a brand that needs to be injected into a branding cannot simply be transferred from artificial intelligence to visual language. The need for uniqueness for brands is increasing all the more as a result. "The need for design excellence, uniqueness, and recognizability increases enormously through the use of AI." Another major danger in a media context: Facts are presented in a professional-looking jargon. Whether these facts are true or fictitious, is not the point here. So AI has the ability to take the manipulation of people to a whole new level. Therefore, the fundamental question arises: How much are well researched facts worth to us as a society? HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF YOUR DATA Artificial intelligence is constantly learning. The fodder of the AI is the Internet and everything that can be found on it. Aspects such as copyright, data theft and the seemingly self-evident use of one's own identity as learning material for the AI will keep us busy for a while - as will courts. Regarding the automatic use of one's own identity and one's own copyright-protected objects, it is fair to say that some AI providers offer an opt-out option. That means: If I don't want my copyrighted objects and my identity to be fed into the artificial identity, I have to proactively contact the manufacturers of the AI myself and ask to be left out. CONCLUSION There is a variety of legal topics, all of which must first be dealt with in court. But: Artificial intelligence will most likely have an extreme impact on all of our lives - how this looks in everyday life (both positive and negative) remains to be seen.

Getting inspiration, fresh energy and regularly changing my perspective are extremely important to me - especially as a brand designer . So I decided to spend the time around NYE 2022/23 in Cuba, more precisely in its capital city Havana (or “La Habana” as the locals call it). I went to the Caribbean for the second time within a year , because: you just can't get enough of the Caribbean joy of life! I was also able to expand my dance skills in Salsa and Rueda de Casino accordingly. Follow me to exciting Cuba in this blog article. COLOURFUL ARCHITECTURE AND DEADLY PAVEMENTS IN HAVANA Communism and dictatorship have left their mark on Cuba - also in terms of architecture. An adventurous mixture can be seen in its capital: ramshackle houses that collapse here and there, and some (though few) beautifully preserved buildings. In Havana, it is actually safer to walk on the street than on the sidewalk, because it is quite possible that balconies on dilapidated buildings simply fall down and bury the sidewalk (including pedestrians) alive underneath. A sidewalk in Havana can become a death trap. The wonderful, bright colours in the "graffiti" are far less dangerous. Look at those beautiful gradients! The street signs are also a real feast for the eyes and remind me of the street signs I discovered on my trip through Colombia in 2018. As a brand designer , this UN1CO logo caught my attention, too. A clever mix of letters and numbers. What a great logo design! GETTING TO THE NYE PARTY IN A COCO TAXI The combination of communism and dictatorship makes the Cubans true improvisation artists. This was evident in many ways - fortunately also during our ride with the Coco Taxi from dinner to the Club Jardines del 1830, probably the most legendary club in Havana - located by the water, open air, simply beautiful. Unfortunately, after filming our ride with the Coco Taxi, the very vehicle broke down due to (probably) old age. After hearing a few sad, metallic noises, nothing worked anymore. “My brother will come with another Coco Taxi and take you to the club,” the Coco driver assured us. And that's exactly what happened just a few minutes later. INTENSE DANCE TRAINING IN CUBA During the day we went to dance trainings with Cuban professional dancers for about four hours a day. Salsa, Rueda de Casino, Rumba, Afro, Son and Cha Cha Cha were on the program - two weeks packed with training, which I had rarely experienced so intensively before, at the Mari Suri dance school . By the way, Salsa was not originally called Salsa , but Casino . The US-Americans simply made Salsa out of the term Casino . Oh well…. Besides all the dance training there was also a percussion workshop to get a better understanding of different rhythms and claves. A very nice and funny official from the Cuban Ministry of Culture showed us how different clave rhythms work. By the way, I thought it was wonderful to see how a Cuban official can look like. :-) My absolute favorite dance is Rueda de Casino. You dance in a circle as a couple, constantly changing partners, there are new commands and figures being announced and danced spontaneously. This creates a great group dynamic, which is just so much fun. I was particularly grateful and happy that I was able to meet Juanito in person, the inventor of Rueda de Casino. What a lovely man in a suit and hat! I just had to say "thank you" to him for inventing a dance that brings so much joy to me and so many other people around the world. "Muchas gracias de mi corazón, Juanito!" is all I can say. It was a great honour for me to dance in Ruedas in front of him. In addition to Latin American dance steps, there are also a lot of African influences in Cuba. Elements of Afro and Rumba are often incorporated into Salsa or Rueda. I was able to observe authentic Rumba and Afro dances in the Callejón de Hamel. An ecstatic mood that is second to none! EL DINERO Money is a special topic in Cuba. One particularly fun thing, but one that initially shocked me quite a bit, is the currency symbol. For example, the US dollar sign $ is also used for CUP (cuban pesos). So a cocktail doesn't cost 200 US dollars, but 200 Cuban pesos. Even if inflation in Cuba is extremely high, it's not that high. "BIG BRANDS" IN CUBA On my roundtrip through Colombia in 2018 , I had already experienced that big brands like to be copied (e.g. Starbucks in Medellín). Here in Cuba, too, I came across local brands reminiscent of Apple and Coca-Cola. How would my iPhone have felt if I had taken it to this Apple store for repairs? Hmm.... Let's take a look at the logo of the Cuban Fiesta Cola. The swirl of Coca-Cola is reflected in the F of Fiesta, the swirl of the L in in Coca-Cola is subtly copied over into the F letter of Fiesta Cola (marked red in the photo below). Or how about Pringles? The Caribbean version is called Mister Potato, produced in Southeast Asia, imported to Mexico and brought to Cuba by mule (completely legal, by the way), declared at high cost and sold in a living room shop. In the picture below you can see original goods in another living room shop - original goods are available, albeit very rare and outrageously expensive. VAMOS A LA PLAYA Besides all the physical exercise of the dance training, we also had to relax here and there - for example on the Caribbean beach or in a wonderfully refreshing river. MANGONAS TRAVELLING How did my trip to Cuba come about? I was in a dance class at home in Innsbruck (in the Salsa Advanced 2 course at Salsa Libre to be exact) and spotted a poster on the wall: New Year's Eve in Cuba with Mangonas Travelling . Even though I'm usually the most unspontaneous person ever, I took a picture of this poster and booked the trip the next day. Thanks to Maria and Nadine from Mangonas Traveling for this unforgettable journey! There are even more insights on Instagram . Copyright photos & videos: Helene Clara Gamper, Mangonas Travelling, Adrian Argudin Valdes

One of our side projects for the Business Design Boutique (to be launched in early 2023) features a stylish and modern website design for tech companies, inspired by the high-tech vibe of the CyberWeek in Tel Aviv which we attended in summer 2022 in Israel . IT companies in particular have a hard time to find great multimedia assets for their websites as their products and services cannot be seen or touched. We solved this problem by integrating abstract video loops and photos into this website design to make invisible services look fresh and stylish. Many people feel anxious or nervous when getting in touch with IT companies. We try to solve that problem by bridging the gap between IT and human beings by implementing smart design decisions. We believe, tech-heavy businesses don’t always have to look strict, straight and square. This is why we added round corners to different design elements and used a friendly looking sans-serif font with minimal round edges. This gives an abstract business selling IT services a human touch and makes it look friendly. It contributes to bridging the gap between high-tech business solutions and the human clients. The embedded Google Map on this website design perfectly blends into the website’s overall look and feel and is in line with the branding. Green as the focus colour is used for the pinned address. We decided to split up the copy in several, small bunches of text, added beautiful icons above them, used those icons as an anchor for a frame and implemented beautiful hover effects with an eye-catching call to action button - for an increased CTR (click-through-rate). Implementing a chat box is a nice way to interact with website visitors in real-time (or even as a chatbot if you lack the manpower). For this Wix website, we made sure that the chat is designed in line with the rest of the website design. How do you like this website design? Let us know in the comments below!

This year's birthday is something special - I turn 40. That's why I look back and reflect - publicly in our blog. Because: I see again and again how amazed people around me are when I tell them my story, how everything started with my entrepreneurship. This article is intended to inspire, show you some real-life moments and demonstrate: Yes, even potatoes in tomato water can grow to something that you never dared to dream of. MY SITUATION IN SPRING 2010 In May 2010, I started my adventure of "entrepreneurship" and founded HCG corporate designs. If you had asked me a few months earlier if I would ever start my own business, I would have said "never in my life" . After all, I wasn't a particularly risk-taking person - back then. However, over many months from 2009 to spring 2010, a situation came up that was fueled by several factors. At that time I was a full-time employee in the financial sector. The services of this company were (and still are) very good, but I didn't really like the job itself and it didn't keep me mentally busy. Even in the previous jobs in quality and process management, I was too often underchallenged. I was bored, I couldn't even begin to tap into my potential and nobody was interested in promoting my talents or using them for their businesses. However, in my last job (in the bespoke financial sector), there was an even bigger problem: bullying at work. In addition, some of my boss's business partners wanted to start a physical relationship with me, one even offered me money for it - I was shocked and disgusted. I was confronted with sexist sayings and actions and experienced the revenge of a business partner who was interested in a relationship with me by spreading rumours about me and defaming me. Fortunately, my boss recognised this and paid no attention to this defamation. Nevertheless, he was not shy himself when it came to bullying either: on my last day at work he grabbed and shook my nose so hard that I could still feel my nose hours later, he even pulled the secretary's hair. What I really enjoyed during this time, however, was my part-time DJ job on the weekends. I had to express my creativity, and I did so behind the DJ booth. Music, vinyls, dancing people - I liked that. Understandably, it had become more and more difficult over time to follow both my office job in the financial sector and my DJ job. As long as I was DJing in Europe, everything was fine. A performance here, a performance there, Europe is a small continent. At the weekend I was the celebrated DJ, during the week I was in the office. Somehow I always found this contrast very amusing. Over the years, my DJ career went through the roof more and more - especially from around 2009. My DJ agency at the time gave me a choice: I either quit my secure office job and am available as a DJ for much larger and longer tours; or I'll keep my secure office job and my DJ career can't grow any further. This was a very difficult situation for me. There was another aspect, too: In the spring of 2010 I decided to buy an apartment. I went from bank to bank to apply for the loan. What I heard from most of the banks left me speechless: "Ms. Gamper, get married and then come back to apply for the loan again." I was single at the time and didn't earn too bad (mainly thanks to my DJ part-time job). About ten years later I applied for another loan - this time for a flat as an investment. Since the sayings of the bankers from back then were still ringing in my ears, I brought in a financial advisor who arranged everything for me. The day of signing the loan contract came, I was about to sign it and couldn't resist confronting the banker with what the bankers had said back then. I wanted to hear his opinion before signing the contract. He was taken aback and confirmed that such comments from his colleagues were inappropriate and apologised on behalf of his colleagues. I signed and bought and invested in an apartment. A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING My situation in spring 2010 brought me to my knees mentally and I decided to make a radical new start. I quit my job, started my own business (as a career changer - which hardly anyone believes me to this day, if you look at my work ) and founded HCG corporate designs. I consumed just about everything there was in terms of education, courses (both paid and free) and learning materials on the internet and educational institutions and stuffed my brain so full of knowledge that I barely had time to sleep. I knew: I had to get on my feet quickly and accelerate. Fortunately, it was always easy for me to learn independently and on my own. I also taught myself how to mix music on the DJ booth and how to skilfully mix records. Yes, I DJed with vinyls and it took me almost three months until I finally managed to mix two records perfectly. In my DJ job, a big challenge came up: My agent at the time, who arranged (or was supposed to arrange) gigs for me and gave me the choice of “either an office job or a DJ job”, cancelled all previously confirmed DJ gigs after I quit my secure office job. I was shocked and personally very disappointed - after all, we had known each other for a few years and were friends. I was now financially in a dead end. I still don't know with 100% certainty why my agent at the time acted like that. However, there was a suspicion that he wanted to make me financially dependent on him. He could have lowered my DJ fee to whatever he wanted and it would have been easier to “sell” me as a female DJ to male club owners and promoters. You have to know that some female DJs don't earn most of their money with their performances, but with sexual services. I don't know how it is nowadays, but it was like that then, primarily on an international level and especially in Muslim countries (UAE, Indonesia, etc.). A club promoter in Dubai also offered me a four-figure sum for 20 minutes... This kind of "deal" was always a thorn in my side, which is why I always tried to ignore it (looking back, I think how naive I was). Every time I got such a "request" I was completely shocked. Interestingly I was mainly confronted with it in connection with my DJ agency. Before and after working with this DJ agency, this topic hardly ever came up. And so it happened that my well-paid DJ gigs were all cancelled after I quit my secure office job. A financial fiasco for me. I really felt cheated. POTATOES IN TOMATO WATER It is always said that all beginnings are difficult. Starting your own business is particularly difficult. HCG corporate designs was still in its infancy. I remember one Friday when I only had 16 Euros and 23 cents in my bank account. I had to buy groceries from it. Neither a new design job nor a new DJ gig was in sight at that time. I was financially drained. So it happened that I bought the cheapest groceries I could find at the discount store: potatoes and mashed tomatoes. I bought a lot of the potatoes, after all they are the ones that fill you up. I stretched the mashed tomatoes with water and seasoned them with salt and pepper. So I had very cheap food for about two or three weeks: potatoes in tomato water. After the bitter disappointment with my DJ agency, I left the agency and managed myself from then on. So it happened that after a while I went on tour as a DJ again - for example through India three times in one year. One tour was still in the accounts of my "old" DJ agency, the other two tours I arranged myself - including threats from the agency and fears about physical wellbeing. I was very grateful to my Indian tour manager for ensuring my safety through security and bodyguard. The five-figure fees for such a DJ tour were a blessing for me and my bank account. The time with potatoes in tomato water was over - but I haven't forgotten it to this day (and probably never will). THINGS STARTED TO CHANGE For my last performance as a DJ, I flew to São Paulo in Brazil for two days. I was booked as the headliner of an open air. I knew this would be my last gig - after 7 years of DJing. However, I didn't tell anyone about my plan to give up my DJ career. I just wanted to save myself from a lot of drama. For any music artist, the moment they leave the stage and return to their hotel room is their worst moment. This sudden 180 degree turn from stage, adrenaline and a great audience to silence and solitude in a hotel room in a country you don't even know is simply horrible. After this last booking in São Paulo, however, this moment was particularly bad for me - because I had decided: I put down the headphones and end my DJ career. Something that I had built up over many years with a lot of effort was now over. That night I cried many tears on the other side of the Atlantic. But even today I still believe that it was the right decision at the right time. Slowly but surely things went uphill with HCG corporate designs. Of course I had to reconsider the positioning and the target group here and there and adjust it accordingly. But this fine tuning paid off. Over the years, the high standards I set for myself, my quality awareness and my striving for excellence have paid off in every respect. Over the years things went steadily uphill and I understood more and more that quality always prevails in the long run. MY LIFE TODAY Today I look back on twelve years of HCG corporate designs and am happy about my business, the quality seal of the initiative corporate design from designaustria , the status as a WIX partner , happy clients from 25 industries from eight countries on four continents, a great team and regular 6-figure annual sales. Today I am thankful for the bad situation in spring 2010, because it forced me to do everything humanly possible to escape from this situation. It was an enormous effort, but my life today is the complete opposite of my life back then. Today I live a life that I would never have dreamed of: my own business, in which I can perfectly combine creativity and business administration, great clients, exciting projects, 100% self-determination, travelling thanks to remote work and financial independence. However, this life today is also hard. Really hard - but in a positive way. It takes a lot: 80-hour work weeks were not uncommon for me. Today, however, it's not quite as "bad" anymore, because I know how productivity works . In addition, I now work with a small team that supports me. We all work remotely and I fulfill my big dream of travelling the world - even if unfortunately there is often far too little free time to see as much as I would like to. A problem I'm still struggling with but I'm working on a solution (whatever that might look like). Nevertheless: Most of the people in my private environment are shocked when they see what it takes to work out the life I live today. I pay a high price for this life - primarily in terms of time, personal life, energy and strength. But I'm willing to pay that price. Not everyone is willing to go down this path and I can totally understand it. For me , however, it was the right path. WHAT I REALLY CARE ABOUT Because of my story, which you now know a little, it is very important to me to inspire people to live a self-determined life. I know so many people who procrastinate their dreams and therefore miss a lot in life. Life is short and you should always make the best of it. As you can see, my potatoe-in-tomato-water dilemma has grown into a fine, small company with regular six-figure annual sales. I hope this blog article has inspired you and shown you what is possible if you consistently pursue your dreams and remain true to yourself, always and without exception. If entrepreneurship is also your big goal, we will be happy to support you with a first-class brand design and web design . With this, you set the course for a serious and professional image that will convince your customers right from the start. You are also welcome to purchase our website webinar or book a Pick my Brain session with me personally.

In fall 2020 we ran a live webinar on branding and website design with Wix. Because: For some entrepreneurs, the decision for a website provider feels like a kind of "forced marriage" with a spouse they hardly know. After all, logo design , brand design , website design and all the rest that goes with a professional company appearance is completely new territory for every entrepreneur at least once in their life. A certain amount of nervousness is completely normal when it comes to this topic. A few weeks before the webinar, we conducted a small survey and wanted to know what entrepreneurs were really thinking about a lot. The biggest unknown "X" was which website provider you should choose when you are about to start a new website. That's why we ran this webinar . The feedback from the participants was very positive and we were still being asked about it weeks later. We have now improved the webinar, added some new features (for example insights into Editor X) and use real live examples from our daily design agency practice to show what is possible with Wix and Editor X, which features are best suited for different scenarios and where we can specifically help. In short: a popular "on demand" webinar that you don't want to miss out on.

Reading a magazine on a tablet can be a challenging thing – especially when there is no good navigation and the user does not know where to go next at the end of a page. In fact, there are four possible directions to swipe to. Here I show you seven examples of great navigation that improves the usability for the reader. INSPIRE (BY ADOBE) The bottom right arrow shows that the user has reached the end of the article and would have to scroll up to go back to the beginning of the article. However, it does not tell the user where to scroll next in order to read the NEXT article. The user has to find that out himself. Adobe should have thought about the user-friendliness a bit more here. ZMK AKTUELL I did the ZMK Aktuell app for the Spitta Verlag in Balingen (Germany). Based on the print design, the user can see the category in the top right corner. At the bottom left, the user sees where he currently is (third page of three pages of the article). To the right of it you see „zum Artikelanfang“ (translation: „back to start of article“). By tapping this, the user is directed back to the beginning of the article (page 1/3 in this case). The bottom right arrow shows the user to scroll to the right to get to the next article. THE RED BULLETIN At the end of each article in the Red Bulletin, the user sees small arrows pointing to the left and to the right. They indicate where to scroll for the previous or next article. The home button in the middle directs the user back to the starting page of the app magazine. The app icon top left opens up the content table. Well executed, I think. WIRED (UK) The Wired Magazine (UK edition) has a black navigation bar on the left handside all the way through the article. The white arrow pointing down shows the user to scroll down to continue reading the article. Reaching the end of the article, the white arrow pointing up with the hint „top“ explains exactly what it does. BLICKPUNKT LKW+BUS Based on the print editorial design of my long-term client Blickpunkt LKW+BUS, I designed the app magazine. The white arrow at the bottom right shows the user to scroll down to read the article. The black arrow in the bottom right corner tells the user to swipe to the right to get to the next article. The white arrow with black outline brings the user back to the beginning of the article when tapping on it. ZF DRIVE The navigation of the ZF Drive app is really interesting. A plus symbol in the light grey box at the bottom left opens up the navigation. Reaching that, the user can go to the Kiosk, start page, table of contents, to the previous or next article. The minus symbol closes the navigation again. INFOGRAPHICS BY HCG CORPORATE DESIGNS When creating my app „Infographics by HCG corporate designs“, I decided to go for a consistent white menu bar at the bottom of each page. As this is not a magazine but a collection of static and interactive/animated infographics I’ve designed over the years, it’s quite practical for the user to go to different pages at any time. The arrows pointing left and right show how to get to the previous or next page. If you want to publish your publication on a tablet, simply get in touch with me to get a free quote. #android #ios #ipad #magazine #tablet #interactive #ux #digitalpublishing #navigation #userexperience

Adobe has launched a new application on the market: Adobe Comp. It is intended for tablet based sketching and drafting designs for different purposes. A self-experiment: The Adobe Comp App is free and I downloaded it on my iPad. For my test, I select my desired format – practical! A canvas opens up with the selected dimensions. Here I can do different things: placing pre-defined shapes, photos (Attention: Other graphic designers report about very bad photo resolutions when exporting!), writing text – as expected, TypeKit is implemented. Drawing a simple circle works out fine and the Adobe Comp App translates that correctly into a neat circle – as if I had made it with Illustrator. Very nice. But when I draw more complex shapes, this does not work. As you can see in the example shown below, the Adobe Comp App translates my individual shape into a „nothing“ – empty space. This is where the magic of Adobe Comp already stops. Very disappointing. At the end of your sketching process, you can upload your „compositions“ into your Adobe Creative Cloud account and get the file from there and continue working on it on your computer/laptop. My conclusion: Again, Adobe have invested money, time and staff into something that is not fully sophisticated and does not provide much additional value to professional designers. The time you invest in working with Adobe Comp, you might as well invest in the software product best suited for your design project. Adobe Comp can be considered as some sort of substitute for a sketch book – if you’re on the road and want to quickly create a „professional“ design on the go. It’s a typical cloud feature for people who prefer drawing their sketches on a tablet rather than a piece of paper. I think I won’t ever use Adobe Comp myself. #adobe #adobecomp #app #creativecloud #draw #illustration #interactive #ipad #notepad #tablet

Do you know this situation? You spend days preparing for an important presentation to customers, business partners or colleagues. Then day X is here and the nightmare begins: people are bored, play on their phones and fight to not fall asleep. All the effort and work you put into your presentation seems useless. GOOD DESIGN FOR BETTER PRESENTATIONS Good design can help! While our design tips for better presentations won't guarantee you 100% attention from every single person in your audience, they will definitely make your presentation more successful by keeping your audience more interested and engaged. Are you ready for fewer snore noises and more interest within your audience? Here we go! TIP #1: LESS IS MORE Less is often more. This means: Place as little text as possible, but as much as necessary on a slide. Keywords or short amounts of text are definitely better than whole sentences. The reason is clear: The presentation slides should support what was said and not repeat it one to one. You probably know this from your own experience: You are sitting in a presentation, a slide is shown and you try to briefly read over the looong text on the slide while the speaker is speaking. You cannot focus on both at the same time. The situation is different, for example, with quotes that are important. These can be shown in large text on a slide, but the presenter should read them loud and clear. This works best as it reinforces the message of the quote. In addition, it is important to ensure that there is enough white space . This gives the text more room to breathe and doesn't overwhelm your audience. Your presentation will be better if you have more slides with brief text than a few slides with lots of text. TIP #2: BE CAREFUL WITH FONTS & COLOURS Be careful when mixing fonts! Make sure not to mix too many fonts with each other. Two or three fonts are enough. Everything else tires the eye - and brings no benefit. Don't underestimate the power of typography ! The choice of colour is about two essential aspects: optimal legibility and good contrast. However, when choosing the colour, be careful not to use too many different colours together. Subtle colours such as light grey, eggshell or white are well suited for the background. The colour for the font must have sufficient contrast to the background. It should be noted that dark writing on a lighter background is generally easier to read. For smaller text or "deliberate exceptions", lighter colours can then be used for the font with darker colours for the background. Examples: black font on white background dark grey font on light grey background dark blue font on an eggshell-coloured background dark red font on light pink background and so on … For special highlights, it is best to choose an accent colour that offers sufficient contrast. This allows you to emphasise individual elements on a presentation slide. Examples: green accent colour for a black font and white background red accent colour for a dark grey font and light grey background pink accent colour for a dark blue font on eggshell background and so on … TIP #3: TIME NAVIGATION "How long is that going to take?" Admittedly, a question that isn't something you like to hear when you're giving a presentation. Normally, however, you can tell by looking at your audience if this question is even "thought"... A subtle time navigation is a great solution here. You are probably familiar with a time navigation in the form of progress bars, which grow further depending on how far you have come in completing a questionnaire, for example. People love to see they make progress! You can utilise this positive effect, which everyone loves to experience, in your presentation design by incorporating a subtle time-based navigation bar. TIP #4: THE GRID MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Grids help the audience to orient themselves easily and draw logical conclusions. In this way, grids ensure a harmonious division of individual elements - instead of creating confusion. TIP #5: BE CAREFUL WHEN USING ICONS Icons are great. Unfortunately, the mistake is made far too often to use icons in an inflationary manner. Here an icon, there an icon - icons are often placed like wild growth, as in "look how cool we are, we use icons!" . The same applies here: less is more. Icons should be placed where they make sense and support the message of the text and/or spoken word. A "meaningless" use of icons is ugly, seems forced, inharmonious and counterproductive. Icons should subtly support the text or what is being said - not the other way around. In addition, attention must be paid to a visual constant. That means: Use icons in the same style or - ideally - in your brand design . For example, look at the icons we made for our client Spedifort as part of the rebranding . TIP #6: PHOTO CIRCUS Images play a key role in presentations because they convey emotions. In order for these to be transported as intended, images should fit together beautifully and have a similar colour mood. TIP #7: PRESENTATION IN YOUR BRAND DESIGN In order to support a serious and professional image, it is essential to design the presentation in your company’s brand design. Professional design agencies always provide you with a brand design manual as part of the brand design development , so that you can work flexibly and easily.

Ladies and gentlemen, here it is: our first ever office collection! We made sure to include all the essentials a stylish office really needs and are super excited to ship your favourite items straight to your doorstep. Yes, we ship worldwide! The HCG office collection features beautiful laptop bags in two different sizes (13“ and 15“), cool beanbag covers to sit on, stainless steel drinking cups with metal straw, handy notepads, mousepads, super-stylish weekender bags and is exclusively available through HCG corporate designs. PICK YOUR FAVOURITE SIGNATURE COLOUR All items of the HCG office collection come in our four signature colours - red, yellow, blue and turquoise. Tip: Click on the pictures to see the relevant items in the shop. 0-99-91-0: this is the CMYK colour code for our signature red, and here it comes with vertical lines in white and a darker red shade with the CMYK colour code 0-100-66-42. Our signature red marks all services related to brand design and website design . 77-12-0-0: this is the CMYK colour code for our signature blue which we combined with a darker blue tone with CMYK code 100-35-0-0 . We use our signature blue to mark all print design services like brochures, flyers or magazines. 0-4-95-0: this is the CMYK colour code for our signature yellow. Along with vertical lines in white and a slightly darker yellow shade with CMYK code 0-11-70-0, it will brighten up your day! We use yellow to mark our infographic design services . 58-12-17-2: this is the CMYK colour code for our signature turquoise. Along with a darker turquoise shade with the CMYK colour code 75-0-11-45, it looks super cool. Our signature turquoise marks all app design services , like app catalogues , regular app magazines or digital sales brochures. DID YOU NOTICE? The pattern on all items of the HCG office collection is inspired by the straightness and slickness of our brand design - values that we live on a daily basis. By the way, you can see those white vertical lines throughout our entire brand design, on our social media profiles as well as on our website. The white vertical line serves as the secondary style element and is derived from our logo design . EXCLUSIVE & SUSTAINABLE All items of our HCG office collection are exclusively available through HCG corporate designs. Every single item is designed with passion, affection to detail and produced on demand. This avoids over-production and makes the collection sustainable. In addition to benefits for the environment, this innovative „produce on demand“ approach removes the risk of stock overload or stock shortage. Production, handling and shipping are outsourced to specialists. This is called dropshipping, by the way. HOW TO LAUNCH YOUR OWN ONLINE SHOP You want to launch your own online shop? No matter if with or without dropshipping - we've got you covered. Discover our Premium Package on WIXpert.design or get in touch via the contact form .

It's often said that designers and programmers don't get along very well. This does not mean they have a personal struggle, but communication is often an issue - and the fact that designers and developers live in different worlds, but need to communicate perfectly with each other - in the interests of the customer. We met Alejandro Hirsch , a programmer in Innsbruck with Colombian roots, for an interview. Helene Clara Gamper: Hi Alejandro, you're a programmer. On your LinkedIn-profile you are a "full stack web developer" . Tell me, what does a "full stack web developer" do? Alejandro Hirsch: Hi Helene. A "full stack web developer" is a programmer who works in the development of web applications on both the backend and frontend. The backend includes databases and other server services in programming languages such as MySQL, PHP or Node.js. Frontend means the user interface, as in HTML, JavaScript and CSS, for example. HCG: How long have you been working as a developer? Alejandro: Since 2016. HCG: The term programmer is very broad and rather abstract for an outsider. So that we can get a better picture of your work - what specifically do you usually program and which software do you use for it? Alejandro: In fact, there are many types of programmers. But there are two tools that we programmers almost always use: One is the integrated development environment (IDE), such as VS Code. The other is a distributed version control tool called Git. I also use DevTools, which are tools built into web browsers. Specifically, I'm currently mainly programming in Vuejs or Reactjs, which requires knowledge of HTML, TypesCript (JavaScript), Sass or Tailwind (both CSS). HCG: I can remember my early years in 2010, 2011, 2012... Programming and design were still two completely different worlds that were really difficult to unite. Unfortunately, there were often problems with the technical implementation of the designs I created - the classic love-hate relationship between programmers and designers (laughs) . That's why I moved the entire IT execution for websites and apps internally many years ago - probably the best decision ever. But tell me, how do you see it as a programmer? What are your experiences in the interaction between design and IT? Alejandro: They are still completely different worlds. However, today it is much easier for the programmers to implement the requirements of the designers. Well, it's always been a one-way street for me anyway, but I didn't have a problem with that at all. I never had to say "no, that's not possible". As long as the designs are professionally created and shared, and details such as responsiveness or on-hover effects are clarified, there should be no friction. HCG: What is your workflow like when you code? What happens when someone hires you to code a website? Alejandro: Broadly speaking, there is usually a meeting with the project manager to discuss the details. It can also be the case that the result should deviate a bit from the design specification. Of course, I ask a lot of "what if" questions to be clarified by the project manager. After that, everything is pretty straight forward. I study the design (e.g. with Figma), then I write the necessary code so that it looks like the design pre-defined and does what it is supposed to from a functional aspect. Then I pass my result on to the project manager via a stage environment. There he can look out for functional and cosmetic bugs. After that, I fix the bugs and if everything is okay, you can deploy the site live. HCG: What do you say when someone asks you to code a website but there is no design? After all, there is no website without a design. Or do you work with templates? What do you do when a client doesn't have a design but wants a website? Alejandro: Well, there are many websites with no design, for example web applications. Those customers don't care about appearance, only functionality is important. In such cases, you can skip almost the entire styling code. Nowadays you can even make very good looking websites without a design thanks to CSS libraries like Tailwind or Bootstrap. Of course, these are boring out-of-the-box solutions with zero personalisation that are only needed internally. In such a case, the focus lies completely on functionality and usability. HCG: How important is a brand design for you as a programmer? Does it even need a brand design or is a logo alone enough ? Alejandro: It doesn't really matter to me personally, because I'm only involved in the implementation. Of course, if the design looks bad, the website will look bad too. So a brand design makes the whole thing more harmonious and easier on the eye. That should be important for the customer, not for me. HCG: How does the brand design have to be documented, what do you specifically need so that you can do a good job as a programmer? Alejandro: In brand design there are many important values that I can use, like fonts , colours and so on. But web design is important to me. It should contain all web elements and their variations, as well as how the website should look on different devices (desktop and mobile is sufficient in some cases). But above all it helps me to extract information that does not necessarily belong in the brand design , such as menus, footers, animations, spacing, on-hover effects, various assets (placeholder graphics, images and text), icons, favicon (usually a logo optimised for it) and much more. HCG: Have you ever created a website without a brand design? If yes, what was your experience? How did the project go? Alejandro: Yes, a few. As said, the focus then is on functionality and usability, but since the last one is pretty self-explanatory, briefing talks for it have almost always revolved around "what it's supposed to do" only. The process for this is almost completely the same, just without aesthetics. HCG: As a full stack web developer, what would you recommend to entrepreneurs who need a new website? What do you think they should pay particular attention to? Alejandro: In my opinion they should ask themselves: What is the goal of the website? What do we want to achieve with it? What kind of website should it be? Web application, web shop, web blog, landing page, reservation system or something else. Does it need four to six or 100 to 200 subpages? How often do we publish what on the website? What amount of data is used? Should visitors be able to log in? Should they be allowed to comment on blog posts? And so on. HCG: For you as a full stack web developer, what is a "good website"? Alejandro: For me as a developer, a good website must have simple UI elements, use modern techniques (e.g. lazy loading, dynamic routing), it must perform well, be SEO-optimised , offer responsiveness and accessibility and must not have any bugs. HCG: And what is a good brand design in your opinion? Alejandro: Uff, I can't say much about that, I'm afraid... I personally like minimalistic designs with small, cool animations here and there. HCG: Many thanks - or "muchas gracias" - for this insightful conversation. Alejandro: Con mucho gusto.